South wall of imperial cult chamber after conservation

Item Overview

Title

South wall of imperial cult chamber after conservation

Photographer

Vescovo, Arnaldo
Vescovo, Alessandro

Date Created

February-March 2009

Date

2009-02/2009-03

Collection

Luxor Roman Wall Paintings

Series

Post-conservation
ICC South Wall

Program

International Digital Ephemera Project

Notes

Contents note

The central vignette depicts the tetrarchs and embodies the iconography of Concordia which dominated imperial imagery of the tetrarchic era. The emperors’ status as divine beings and not just imperial authorities is a salient theme in their iconography starting with their depication in the apse-like space and flanking columns. The two central figures are the Augusti, Diocletian and Maximian, flanked by their caesars, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius; the latter are several centimeters smaller which signifies their junior status. In addition to the damage the figures suffered in antiquity, possibly due to Christian iconoclasm, the figure of Maximian (second from the right) was intentionally damaged and subjected to damnatio memoriae under Constantine. Diocletian holds a spear in his right hand and a globus in his left, objects that were long understood to signify the attributes of universal authority granted to the sovereign by Jupiter; they were attributes of Jupiter. This is not the only representation of Jupiter within the apse. In the semi-dome is the image of an eagle grasping a corona made of oak (a tree closely associated to Jupiter) , which is a zoomorphic manifestation of Jupiter. The eagle is especially held in high regard within the roman army. Moreover, Mcfadden speculates that the now erased imago clipeus was most likely an illustration of Jupiter. She speculates that this is likely the sole instance where the overt conjoining of Diocletian and Jupiter is present perhaps due to the spatial context of the Luxor temple, the birthplace of divine kingship (McFadden, 126-133).
The figure left to Diocletian, Galerius, is holding a scroll known as a rotulus in his left hand, symbolizing his authority with no associations of divinity. Conservation efforts of this project revealed a new detail in the remaining figure of Constantius, who grips a laurel branch signifying their imperial victory. The employment of halos for the tetrarchs, a contributing source of the figures’ previous misidentification as saints was also unusual for the time, which Mcfadden speculates signified a generic association with “divine light” (McFadden 2015, 130-133).
Note: The images are ordered to reflect the composition of the south wall as a triptych; starting with the east side of the apse and ending with the west side of the apse. Each wing’s images are ordered to reflect the sequence of the registers, from the topmost register to the bottom registers; left to right.
For more information on the conservation process of the frescoes refer to the collection’s reports or ARCE’s publication “Art of Empire: The Roman Frescoes and Imperial Cult Chamber in Luxor Temple”.
The last preserved vignette, west of the niche, and located in the viewer’s right, are another group of well dressed dignitaries of high office, who like their counterparts, were most likely paying homage to the emperor who is no longer pictured. This particular composition suffered extensive loss since Wilkinson’s documentation in the 19th century, where he illustrated the lower halves of seven figures. Notably, one of the extant figures holds a baculus (McFadden 2015, 124-125).
The south wall composition is as Deckers’ and Mcfadden note, a triptych. The bilateral wings both work to highlight the importance of the central scene, depicting the tetrarchs while maintaining semantic independence. On the top left corner (south-east corner) of the south wall is an extant fresco depicting Roman dignitaries of high office paying homage to the emperor and offering a belt with a decorated gold buckle. Only a foot set on a bejeweled stool remains of the emperor’s image. Directly below this register is an imitation opus-sectile border with a distinctly cosmatesque character. According to Mcfadden, the multicolored and vivid panels that dominated imperial iconography represented each territory of the empire, when materials were unavailable, the technique was imitated through painting (McFadden 2015, 119).

Statement of Responsibility

Amenhotep III was responsible for constructing the greater part of the present Luxor Temple around 1400 BCE. Under Diocletian, Emperor of Rome, 245-313, the first Tetrarchy transformed the temple site, including one of the temple’s offering halls into what is now known as the imperial cult chamber. In the early 2000s, ARCE conducted several site visits to Luxor to extensively document the grounds and undertake conversation efforts for the Roman frescoes present in that chamber.

References

McFadden, Susanna. 2015. “The Luxor Temple Paintings in Context: Roman Visual Culture in Late Antiquity.” In Art of Empire: The Roman Frescoes and Imperial Cult Chamber in Luxor Temple, edited by Michael Jones and Susanna McFadden, 105-133, New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Nelson number: 172. "Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple, Vol. 2," The Epigraphic Survey, The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/reliefs-and-inscriptions-luxor-temple-volume-2-facade-portals-upper

Physical Description

Extent

3 color photographs

Medium

Color 35mm slide

Keywords

Genre

color photographs
color slides

Names

Diocletian, Emperor of Rome, 245-313
Maximian, Emperor of Rome, approximately 240-310
Constantius I, Emperor of Rome, -306
Galerius, Emperor of Rome, approximately 260-313

Subject Geographic

Luxor, Egypt

Subject Temporal

Tetrarchy
Late Roman Period
New Kingdom

Longitude

25.698801100701218

Latitude

32.63838839437335

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Imperialism in art
Animals in art
Painting
Columns
Niche (Architecture)
Altered in antiquity
Relief (Art)
Emperors
Apses (Architecture)
ceremonial objects
Halo (Art)
Victory in art
Deities
Doorways
Jupiter (Roman deity)
Art, Greco-Roman
Damnatio memoriae
Mural painting and decoration |~ Fresco painting
Temples